Threaded/flat view and search

[001]

I have two suggestions.

The ultimate flat/threaded view solution feature:

hxxp:img143.imageshack.us/img143/9876/vb1qp0.jpg [nonactive]

Each post includes a link to the parent post together with its number and the name of its author. Consecutive post numbers should be added (1,2,3...).

This is threaded and flat view in one.

The second suggestion is to allow search for all posts by user. Now if you do not enter text in the search field but only enter user name, the search does not start.

[Gary]

So you want a hybrid view. Hmm.... I don't think you'll ever see that default.

[karlbenson]

" allow search for all posts by user."
This can be done from the profile in 1.1.x and 2.0

The 'userdetails' above rather than to the left is not to my tastes personally. (I think its alot more cluttered and makes the pages alot longer).  But it could probably be done with themes alone.

As for the hybrid/threaded feature, as far as I can see it would be a pretty big re-write of smf since smf only stores the information in a linear way.  And probably be a bit of a hit to performance

[001]

So you want a hybrid view. Hmm.... I don't think you'll ever see that default.

No, it's flat view with small modification. Hybrid view is different in VB and the example is flat view with mod.

[karlbenson]

Its not very clear exactly what you are after. That pic you showed us has about 3 different things in one which you could be requesting.

My interpretation of what you are asking is
Topic
Post 1
= > Hidden response to post 1
= > Hidden response to post 1
Post 2
Post 3

And then on click it shows the hidden responses by ajax/magic.

Is that what you want?

[001]

" allow search for all posts by user."
This can be done from the profile in 1.1.x and 2.0

The 'userdetails' above rather than to the left is not to my tastes personally. (I think its alot more cluttered and makes the pages alot longer).  But it could probably be done with themes alone.

As for the hybrid/threaded feature, as far as I can see it would be a pretty big re-write of smf since smf only stores the information in a linear way.  And probably be a bit of a hit to performance

If you know the user name but you can't find any posts of that user, you can't check the profile.
The post details can always be placed on an existing line as I did.
If threaded mode is ever implemented, it should store the information in a threaded way.
By the way, most boards place a line after /quote - why don't you make this work like them?

[001]

Its not very clear exactly what you are after. That pic you showed us has about 3 different things in one which you could be requesting.

My interpretation of what you are asking is
Topic
Post 1
= > Hidden response to post 1
= > Hidden response to post 1
Post 2
Post 3

And then on click it shows the hidden responses by ajax/magic.

Is that what you want?

No, clicking will open the parent post. Test it here:
hxxp:testvb.uni.cc/testvb/showthread.php?t=5 [nonactive]
Username: test1
Password: test1

[karlbenson]

Thanks I had a test.

All it seems to do is open the post before it.
In smf there is no such thing as 'parent' posts.
The messages are shown in 'date' order and tied to a topic only.

[001]

Yes but it could be a post a few pages back in the thread.
If threaded mode is implemented, there should be parent post information stored.

Also it is good when adding a post to see the post after it, not to be returned to the forum.

[karlbenson]

yeah Threaded mode.  I get that. Thanks.

It would be a large re-write of the way smf stores information and modifying smf core functions to save parent information.  And probably be a performance hit aswell with the increased complexity of the queries and then tying it all together.

Personally I doubt this would ever make it into the core.  Its probably more likely as a mod.

[青山 素子]

The problem with allowing the choice of a threaded or linear view comes when you have people in different views posting, and when you have moderation on those threads.

When someone in linear view makes a new reply, quoting a few posts above (easy to do in linear), how do you show that in threaded view, and where do you put it? It isn't really a new parent node, but it isn't a child node either. If you make it a new parent node, that pushes it out of the threaded flow, but if you make it an arbitrary child it doesn't really fit either.

Also, what happens when you delete a parent in the threaded mode? Do you just move the next child to become a parent, make an empty parent to indicate a deleted post, or something else? How do you show this in linear mode?

I'm not sure how vB handles it (as I've really only seen it in linear mode), but these are a few of the things needed for consideration when allowing both views.

[Rudolf]

The removal of parent posts could be handled in a couple of ways.
One would be to set the parent of the child posts to 0 and thus make them top-level posts, or you could set them to -1 and differentiate them in the thread as "orphaned" sub-threads. The second is a bit more work, but nothing too complicated.

The part of storing the parent of the posts is a very simple addition. I wrote a mod for it for SMF 1.0, but never updated it. I'm planning to rewrite it and add threaded view.  Probably for SMF 2 only.

[Oldiesmann]

I doubt that threaded view will ever be a feature in SMF due to all the modifications that would be needed to support it - having a way to reply to a specific post, a new column to store info about which post you're replying to, modified database queries, rewriting some templates... It's a lot of work for a feature that most people won't use (I have yet to see a vB board with threaded or hybrid as the default view - some don't even have these views enabled).

[karlbenson]

Indeed it sounds more complicated everytime i read a thread on it.

But I'm glad someone will have a go at it for the folk who may prefer a threaded view.

[Gary]

Oldies - I know that bttf.com uses Threaded view when viewing as a guest but flat when logged in, for some reason.